If the CW’s The Tomorrow People seems to have hints of the quality that British TV creators often build into their sci-fi, it might be that the Brits got there first.

Nothing new about that: Yanks love to re-purpose British shows, but we don’t always do them justice. Remember the Americanized Life on Mars?

Greg Berlanti ( Arrow) does a good job fulfilling the mandate that every CW show has to be populated with impossibly beautiful young people. At the same time, though, he gives The Tomorrow People more dramatic substance and even a dash of sophistication — qualities not always associated with CW shows.

Stephen (Robbie Amell of Revenge) is a typical high-school kid except for two things: Few high-school kids are that handsome, and he has a habit of waking up in bed with his married neighbors.

It happens with alarming regularity — so much so that he straps himself into bed each night (but only after removing his shirt and displaying his chiseled torso), sees a psychiatrist and is on medication. None of it seems to be working — except for whatever he’s doing in the pecs department. He thinks it’s a type of extreme sleepwalking, but how does he get into his neighbors’ locked apartment?

He has also been hearing voices — one in particular, and it’s getting louder and more insistent that he isn’t crazy and needs to uncork his powers.

In a flash, Stephen is teleported to an abandoned subway platform far beneath the city where 15 Tomorrow People dwell — including Cara (Peyton List, Mad Men), John (Luke Mitchell, H2O: Just Add Water) and Russell (Aaron Yoo, Disturbia).

Stephen is not only a Tomorrow person but also the son of one of the group’s greatest heroes, who walked out on his family when Stephen was just a lad.

The Tomorrow People have special powers because they have evolved to become superhuman. Because they’re different, they’re seen as a threat by some, including Dr. Jedikiah Price (Mark Pellegrino, Lost), the leader of a group of paramilitary Tomorrow-hunters known as Ultra.

Because of competent writing and convincing performances, the silly setup works. The combination prompts us to care about the Tomorrow People beyond the fact that they’re being hunted down because they’re outsiders.

Amell does a good job anchoring the drama, while co-stars Mitchell, List and Yoo prove that they’re more than just pretty faces.

Yoo’s Russell Kwon gets some of the better lines, often providing snarky commentary about the whole concept of a bunch of beautiful superhumans living in a subway station.

Amell, by the way, is the cousin of Arrow’s Stephen Amell, and Berlanti created both shows — which means we might see a crossover episode.

Until that happens, though, The Tomorrow People can stand well enough on its own and has a good chance of becoming as popular as Arrow.